Mono No Aware
by Regas
Summary: (The Pathos of Things) "We aren't enemies here. Before God, we are equal." Itachi gazed at her for many moments before speaking again. "So we are." -oneshot/lemon-


**Mono no Aware**

* * *

There was an unfathomable depth inside those brown eyes; a lachrymose sea of turmoil surged within them, and in this first unguarded meeting, her breath was stolen away. In a split second, he was no longer the iniquitous man she had been taught to see, but the purest soul she had come across and was likely to ever find. If there was someone so virtuous at heart as Itachi Uchiha, they remained concealed from civilization.

He slanted his dark eyes towards her appraisingly. Finding no fault in her presence near him, he dropped to his knees and knelt before the shrine, bowing forward gracefully to pay his respects.

She watched uncertainly and swallowed thickly as he sat up again.

"I come here because I want to speak with God… but I am afraid, because we haven't talked in so long." He remarked softly, turning his head to look at her in her high perch on the back of a stone griffin. "Please, come join me. Prayer is a velleity of mine. "

Reason should have steered her away, but her heart pushed her forward. This was Itachi Uchiha, a man not to be paltered with. She dropped down to the marbled floor with a quiet thud and walked until she stood but a few feet from him.

From this distance, she could see that his eyes were open wounds. They bled with emotion of the stains left not on his hands but on his soul. Surely, eyes so forlorn could not hide everything they knew, yet, somehow, they did. She tugged awkwardly on the band at her elbow.

"Have you come to speak with God, also?" Itachi asked, though his voice was no more than a whisper.

She thought about her answer a moment before giving it to him. "I have… I've come to ask forgiveness."

"If God were as perfect as some say, we wouldn't need to come and beg to be forgiven." He said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Haruno-san?"

"Ah, but if God were so perfect, we wouldn't exist." She gave back, closing her eyes as she sat upon her rear heavily, as the stress from all her years fell upon her in that moment. "What use would he have for murderers, Uchiha-san?"

"You make a fair point." His mouth curved ever so slightly.

That pleased her. "You've stopped running, haven't you?"

This time, he smiled fully; a beautiful heavenward tilt of his mouth. "Do not let appearances and preconceptions define me, Haruno-san. I am not a patient man and even I have my limits." He glanced at her. "I'm tired of waiting to die."

"Yeah, me too."

He breathed out something of a laugh. "Then what is keeping you from killing me?"

She blinked languidly. "We aren't enemies here. Before God, we are equal."

Itachi gazed at her for many moments before speaking again. "So we are."

Silence followed. It was comfortable, not at all like she had expected it to be. He was a quiet and pensive man, but not stoic. Sakura daresay she enjoyed his company.

"Why are you here, Sakura?" He asked suddenly.

She blinked at him a few times before pursing her lips in thought. "I needed to get away from the village. I felt stifled, claustrophobic…"

"Ah. I know the feeling all too well, young Kunoichi." He mused softly, a lazy smile following.

He was beautiful. Handsome was too dull a word to describe his beauty. He was elegant, and feminine, but also sharply masculine. His hair was like the night sky, and his smile was heartwarming. His gently angled eyes so framed with soft black feathers stole her breath. Moreover, it still shocked her to think that this man had slain all but one.

"It's Sakura." She murmured, "My name is Sakura."

"I know your name." Itachi replied. "Just as I know you're a medic, and that you're in love with my brother."

"_Was_ in love." She emphasized quietly.

"Oh?"

"It's a different love now. He's like a brother. The feelings I had before… they were nothing more than a silly infatuation." She took a deep breath. "But even brothers can let you down."

He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Oh, I know." He lifted his hand and rubbed at his eyes gently, tiredly.

She wished the sharp stress lines didn't cut so finely into his skin. They aged him beyond his years.

"Are you tired, Itachi-san?"

"Quite. I should be going." He moved to stand, cloak rustling against his pants legs.

Sakura was surprised with herself when she asked: "Will you keep me company? Tonight?"

Oh, the vagary of her actions.

He regarded her with an empty expression; dark eyes half-lidded with trepidation. "Where, here?" He gestured to the abbey with a single hand.

"I have a room. In the tower." Heat slowly climbed into her cheeks, making her intentions perspicuous.

He grunted and nodded, holding his hand out for her. Sakura took it and allowed Itachi to help her up before he let her lead him to the room at the top of the tower, just above the bells that had stopped ringing so many years ago when the monks had left.

Itachi made the first move, pushing back her long hair with gentle hands so to cup her face unhindered. He leant in, brushing his lips across hers, testing the waters and possibly her resolve.

Sakura returned the kiss, a hand falling to his hip, the other on the back of his neck. With each passing second, they grew bolder, more curious; thirstier for the other. She sighed softly against his mouth when he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her flush against his body. The passion between them was like rising water, frantically pushing them closer, making them desperate for each touch, each breath.

Clothes fell to the floor as dark sweet nothings were exchanged with lust-muted voices.

Sakura made a quiet sound in the back of her throat as her back hit the bed, and he came over her, kissing her again before moving his lips along her jaw, back to her ear. He parted her legs with his own, and supported himself on his forearms as he took her. Each movement was gentle and assiduous, bringing each to their highest point and back down again.

When all was said and done, Sakura found herself lying against his chest, his elegant piano-fingers running along her spine soothingly, exploring each curve with a tentative caress.

Soundlessly, she fell asleep.

* * *

The susurrus of Itachi's soft words against her ear woke Sakura in the early morning hours; the sun not having yet risen. She rolled onto her back, gazed up at him with hooded eyes, and brushed a few strands of hair behind his ear as though she had done so for her entire life.

He smiled at her softly and leant down for a kiss, capturing her lips in a gentle, moving flow.

She could sense the goodbye in it – could sense the building pressure of his absence. He had to go, she knew, but she wanted him to stay. Never had anyone loved her quite the way he had.

Shadows lurked in the darkness of those brown irises and formed an air of mystery in his gaze that was surely to end up the curiosity that killed every cat that ventured close. And Sakura was a most curious creature.

And the realization of his soon to come departure made her heart ache. Sorrow built like a storm in her chest, and she hoped that the feelings would intenerate.

As though sensing her newly formed distress, he pressed his forehead to hers and gave her another quick peck. "Thank you, Sakura."

Her brow furrowed as she stroked his soft hair. "For what?"

"For last night. For understanding." He blinked at her languidly before his mouth curved gently and she briefly registered the red bleeding into his eyes before unconsciousness befell her.

* * *

A/EN: I tried my hand at writing an intimate, very short one-shot without all of the graphic detail. I hope I succeeded at least a little.


End file.
